Beera

Beera Behera, better known as Beera Baya.
Beera is a middle-aged person, a resident of the village, Manglajodi. he belongs to the bijaya patna ward in Manglajodi. He belongs to the fishermen family. As manglajodi is a creek from the lake chilika, the creek is full with fishes. A lot of the most beautiful birds come here. it is a home for a lot of migratory birds too. Beera was a fisherman but later he turned into a bird poacher. But now my friends, he has left poaching for 10 years, protecting the birds in manglajodi and he actually feels for the birds which are killed. He has lived life the hard way. After talking to him, I got to learn a lot about life.

quite a lot of people in Manglajodi are quite poor and illiterate. a lot of the people have migrated to other towns and cities in search of work. they used to be fishermen earlier, but since , this part of chilika is almost dry, the fishing oppurtunities are few. most of these fishermen are now labourers who work outside manglajodi. they are still a few fishermen in the village but they have a very tough life. C.P.S.W.( council of professional social workers) and wild orissa are working on a project about eco-tourism and conserving the birds in manglajodi. they are finding ways to provide livelihood to these villagers who are in search of work and who want to save their village from getting destroyed and devoid of the beautiful birds for whom manglajodi is their home.

Beera used to kill thousands and thousands of birds and he used to make a lot of money everyday. the villagers have protested against it. but he has fought with the villagers. they had almost isolated him. he and quite a lot of his friends who were poachers have been beaten up by villages. finally, Mr. Nandalal Bhujabal, spoke to these people and made them realise of the serious crime they had been committing and he made them swear to the gods in the temple not to kill any other bird. infact, they have been protecting the birds. it's been 10 years, they had been watching over the lake. and if they saw anyone shooting a bird,they would catch hold of him and take him to the forest department.

Beera has to look after a family of 6 members. he has 2 daughters, one of which is 3 and a half years old and is still not walking. he hasn't got enough money to show her to a doctor. he is being paid 2000 rupees per month. but even then that's quite less, right? but he has faith in the organisation. he got back the respect which he had once lost. he's living with his village folks.

he patrols the place looking out for poachers. he's working to make bamboo huts in dhani, near manglajodi. he and his 10 other friends who left poaching and decided to protect the area, have recieved eco guide training and they know each and everything about that place. so whenever tourists come, they are the best eco-guides who can show the place around and let them know about every little detail. people like Beera are waiting for the whole infrastructure work is over so that tourists start coming in and they would start having a good income.

Beera says, he has faith and he hopes things work out for him. he has been waiting for 10 years now.sometimes he feels desperate to go back to his earlier life but he can't ,because he has promised and he is strong. he'll work really hard, earn respect and support his family.

was it his fault that he wasn't educated? was it his fault that he wasn't born rich enough? still he is striving for a better future, atleast for his daughters. now he respects education. he proudly says, my niece is studying in the chandpur college.